Riding-saddle.



PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

J. G. GRAP.

RIDING SADDLE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1906.

2 SHEETBSHEET 1.

VI Z in 6.71765. 6?

1725611 tar.

2? 4 D. WD V No. 891,213. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. J. G. GRAF.

RIDING SADDLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

UNTTED FaTATFS PATENT FFTQF;

JACOB G. GRAF, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GRAF-MORSBACH COMPANY, OF

CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

RIDING-SADDLE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB G. GRAF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riding-Saddles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to so-called side saddles for ladies use, and has for its object the providing of a side saddle so constructed as to form an easy seat for the rider which will give proper support throughout its length to the rider and be of such form also as to support the thigh of the rider at the off-side of the horse throughout the length of the thigh, and further be of such form as to comfortably give the rider an erect posture and relieve the rider of the tendency to hang or shift to one side, thereby giving the rider greater security and easier and more graceful posture on the horse. I accomplish these objects by my im )roved construction, and the invention wil be more readily understood from the following description and claims, and from the drawings, in which latter:

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved device. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail in longitudinal section on the line 03-90 of Fig. 1 of the front end of the saddle showing the near horn and depending bar. Fig. at is a central vertical longitudinal section of my improved device taken on the line 16-00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the off-side of the saddle. Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line g g of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the completed saddle showing the connection of the apron therewith; and, Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-section of the covered saddle taken on the line zz of Fig. 7.

A A represents the side-bars of the saddle which, at their rear, are provided with a long taper as shown at A I B is the seat. The cantle or rear end of the saddle between the side-bars is extremely thin, that is, of minimum height, so that the seat at the rear end of the saddle may be as near the back of the horse as possible. In my improved construction the cantle, as C, is formed by the rear end of the seat. The

cross-head at the front end of the saddle is, in my improved construction, formed of the front end of the seat, see D. The front end of the seat is provided with a rearwardly extending recess E for forming forward projec- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 16, 1906.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Serial No. 343,741..

tions F F. A depending bar G depends from the projection F on the near-side of the saddle, and a depending bar G depends from the projection F on the off-side of the saddle, the horn I-I extending upwardly from the forward projection F. The forward proj ection F, depending bar G and horn I-I preferably merge into each other, and these parts and the forward projection F and depending bar G are located substantially lateral of the recess E.

The seat is preferably straight from front to rear as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, and the upper surface of the covering I thereof preferably droops slightly toward the sides as shown at i "L for forming a slightly convex surface laterally across the covered seat. The side edge of this seat, at the off-side of the saddle, extends in a substantially straight line from the base a of the saddle to the neck 6 thereof, as shown at 0, thereby forming a shelf K which supports the off thigh of the rider throughout its length, thereby preventing chafing of the rider and giving the rider security and confidence in her seat, and permitting her to sit toward the off-side of the horse sufiiciently to prevent undue overhang toward the near-side, which overhang of the rider toward the near-side of the saddle and the consequent feeling of insecurity of the rider has been an objection in saddles as heretofore constructed. The providing of the longitudinally straight upper surface for the seat also gives firmness to the riding position and under support throughout, which is further aided by making the covering of the seat slightly convex from side to side for imparting a graceful and erect posture to the rider, by permitting the rider to sit straight Y forward on the horse, with the median lines of the horse and rider coincident. In my improved construction the rider naturally assumes her position in the middle of the saddle, equalizing her weight on both sides of the horse and relieving the saddle girth from the strain of overhang.

A side-strip L extends substantially from front to rear of the saddle at the near-side of the saddle between the sidebar A and the seat, and a side-strip L extends from front to rear of the saddle between the side bar A and the seat, the latter side-strip forming a bracket M between the side bar A for the shelf K of the seat.

A metal cantle-reinforce N is provided at the cantle-end of the saddle for connecting the rear ends of the side-bars, and a front or cross-head reinforce O connects the sidebars adjacent the frontend of the saddle. A metal strip passes each side wall of the recess E for reinforcing the horn and depending bars from their inner faces, and further metal strips extend longitudinally of the off depending bar and of the near depending bar and horn. Thus the metal strip P is secured to the inner face of the depending bar G, passing the lateral wall 0 ofthe recess, being bent laterally as shown at p and secured to the top of the forward projection F. A metal strip Q is secured to the inner faces of the depending bar G and the horn H, passing the lateral wall 6 of the recess E, while a metal strip R is secured to the outer faces of said depending bar G and horn H. A metal strip S is secured to the outer face of the depending bar G and side-strip L. In order to further reinforce the forward projection F, I provide a boomerang-shaped metal strip T which I attach to the upper face of the forward end of the saddle with its bent end if projecting over and secured to the forward projection F.

I rovide the recess E so that when the sadd e is placed upon the horse,it may extend as far as possible upon the withers of the horse and so that there may be no material off-set between the saddle and the back of the horse which would have a binding, chafing or creasing effect upon the limb of the rider, and in order to further relieve the rider from strain, I provide the apron U of the saddle with a rearward extension V which is secured to the saddle around the walls of the recess E and covers the recess, and acts as a resilient cushion for the limb of the rider, relieving said limb from chafing contact with the saddle and the back-bone of the horse, and also relieving the horse from chafing contact with the rider and saddle. This recess also permits the depending bars to be placed further forward toward the withers of the horse for bringing the rider closer to the head of thehorse and the base of the seat of the saddle close to the back of the horse, permits backone of the horse at the withers and the saddle, and makes the saddle easier in wear both for the rider and the horse.

WV represents the leaping horn of the completedsaddle.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A side saddle tree comprising side bars A A spaced apart'and extending substantially longitudinal of said saddle, a thin seat thereabove having a flat upper surface throughout its area and having a rearwardly extending recess E at its forward end for forming forward projections F F at the replay or space between the arch in the spective sides of said recess, the rear ends of said side bars having their under surfaces tapering upwardly and rearwardly, the rear end of said thin flat seat being exposed at its under surface between said rear ends of said side bars and thereby forming a thin flat cantle 0 above said side bars, a reinforce strip N connecting said side bars and said seat at said cantle for strengthening said cantle formed of said seat, and a reinforce strip 0 connecting said side bars and said seat adjacent said recess E for strengthening said thin flat seat at said recess, whereby the seat of the rider is brought close to the back of the animal being ridden.

2. In combination, a side saddle comprising side-bars A A extending substantially longitudinally of said saddle, a seat B thereabove having a rearwardly extending recess E at its forward end for forming forward projections F F at the respective sides of said recess, the rear ends of said side-bars tapering rearwardly, said seat forming a thin flat cantle C at its rear end between said side-bars, a reinforce-strip N connecting said side-bars and said seat at said cantle, a reinforce-strip 0 connecting said side-strips and said seat adjacent said recess E, de-

f pending bars G G at the respective sides of said recess having connection with said sidebars, a horn H at the near forward end of said saddle, a reinforce-strip Q passing one of the side walls of said recess and secured to said horn H and depending bar G, a reinforce-strip P passing the other side wall of said recess and secured to said depending bar G and the upper surface of said seat, and a boomerang-shaped strip T at the top of said seat for reinforcing the forward end .of said seat adjacent said recess, substantially as described.

3. A side saddle comprising side-bars A A, the seat B having a substantially straight longitudinal upper surface and a covering whose upper surface is slightly convex from or side to side, said saddle having a rearwardly extending recess E at its forward end for forming forward projections F F, the depending bars G G and the horn I-I located substantially lateral of said recess, the said seat having the shelf K extending laterally outwardly on the off-side of the saddle to substantially a straight line between the base a of said seat and the projection F, and an apron U having a rearward extension V covering said recess, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name hereto in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

. JACOB G. GRAF.

Witnesses: I

THEODORE 0. June, A. F HERBsLEB. 

